Hoardings congratulating Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have come up in multiple locations in Mumbai after Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde was shot dead in police custody. The hoardings read --'Badla Pura'-- and showed the leader holding a gun.
Akshay Shinde was shot dead by police in a retaliatory firing when he snatched the gun of a constable and opened fire on the police, police said. Shinde is accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls in a school toilet in Maharashtra's Badlapur. Shinde's death in police custody comes ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections and has led to a war of words between the government and the Opposition.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde justified the police action, saying "these parties are rattled" by the success of his government's Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme.
"He (Akshay Shinde) was taken for investigation as his ex-wife has registered a case of sexual assault. He fired on a police personnel, Nilesh More who got injured and has been admitted to hospital. Police in self-defence took that action. More information will come out after investigation," Shinde said.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis criticised the Opposition for questioning "everything". "The same opposition was asking to hang him. If he had attacked the police, wouldn't the police do the self-defence? It's wrong to create any issue out of it," he added.
Massive protests had erupted in Badlapur, a town in Thane, last month after the two girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by Akshay Shinde in Thane's Badlapur. The school had appointed him on a contractual basis to clean their toilets on August 1. The two minors were allegedly abused in the school toilet on August 12, following which he was arrested on August 17.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar criticised the state home ministry over the incident. "The laxity shown by the Home Department in transferring the main accused in this incident is questionable. It seems that the government has become weak," he said.